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April 2012

April 27, 2012

Yes, yes, it's finally here! My group art show, Sigils & Signs, opens TONIGHT at Observatory. Hope to see you at the party this evening:

Sigils & Signs, a group art show

Opening reception: Friday, April 27th, 7-10pm, FREE!

Show on view April 28th - June 17th, 2012

Gallery Hours: Thursdays & Fridays 3-6pm, Saturdays & Sundays 12-6pm

The fibers of art and magic are woven so tightly together, it’s often said that they are one and the same. Images are imaginal pictures. When we see something, a constellation of synapses fires, associations swirl, and new thoughts are born. We are altered - and what is magic, if not this?

That said, there is a long lineage of artists who, quite literally, created spells via drawings on the floor, scrawls in books, lines cut into wood or stone. Though the featured players of this story are often English magicians from John Dee to Austin Osman Spare to Alan Moore, symbol-based magic can be traced back through the ages and across cultures. Germanic runes were carved into objects and later used as vehicles of divination. Hindu yantras and Buddhist mandalas are meditative, microcosmic diagrams meant to elevate the mind to the spiritual plane, and Kabbalistic letters are infinite layer-cakes of mystic meaning. The well-placed glyph can bless a birth, or curdle mother’s milk. A ring of certain characters can summon a demon, and the right number-grid can allow communion with the angels. Excavated from grimoires, handed down from teachers both living and dead, these are powerful emblems that act upon the fabric of the universe.

As such, the works in Sigils & Signs are agents of change. By using occult symbols from various traditions and times, each artist explores what it means to be a magician in the modern age: to emblazon sigils upon the energy field; to make magic marks. While these artworks may be appreciated for their aesthetic value – and oh how valuable they are – the viewer is invited to engage with each piece on the immaterial level. Whether protective or contemplative, refueling or revealing, these “wall spells” are cast with careful beauty and the intention to transform.

Pam Grossman is an independent curator and lifelong student of magical practice and history. She is the creator of Phantasmaphile, a blog which specializes in art and culture with an esoteric or fantastical bent, and the Associate Editor of Abraxas International Journal of Esoteric Studies. As co-founder of Observatory, her programming aims to explore mysticism via a scholarly yet accessible approach. Her group art shows, Fata Morgana: The New Female Fantasists, VISION QUEST, and Alchemically Yours have been featured by such outlets as Boing Boing, CREATIVE TIME, Time Out New York, Juxtapoz, Arthur, 20×200, UrbanOutfitters.com, and Neil Gaiman’s Twitter. She lectures on such topics as The Occult in Modern Art 101, and teaches classes on herbalism and ritual. She is a graduate of New York University, where she studied anthropology, art history, and religious studies. A resident of Brooklyn, she lives with her playwright husband, Matt, and their two cat familiars, Albee and Remedios “Remy” Varo.

Show image: Jesse Bransford, “Every Man and Woman is a Star” detail, 2008

The fibers of art and magic are woven so tightly together, it’s often said that they are one and the same. Images are imaginal pictures. When we see something, a constellation of synapses fires, associations swirl, and new thoughts are born. We are altered - and what is magic, if not this?

That said, there is a long lineage of artists who, quite literally, created spells via drawings on the floor, scrawls in books, lines cut into wood or stone. Though the featured players of this story are often English magicians from John Dee to Austin Osman Spare to Alan Moore, symbol-based magic can be traced back through the ages and across cultures. Germanic runes were carved into objects and later used as vehicles of divination. Hindu yantras and Buddhist mandalas are meditative, microcosmic diagrams meant to elevate the mind to the spiritual plane, and Kabbalistic letters are infinite layer-cakes of mystic meaning. The well-placed glyph can bless a birth, or curdle mother’s milk. A ring of certain characters can summon a demon, and the right number-grid can allow communion with the angels. Excavated from grimoires, handed down from teachers both living and dead, these are powerful emblems that act upon the fabric of the universe.

As such, the works in Sigils & Signs are agents of change. By using occult symbols from various traditions and times, each artist explores what it means to be a magician in the modern age: to emblazon sigils upon the energy field; to make magic marks. While these artworks may be appreciated for their aesthetic value – and oh how valuable they are – the viewer is invited to engage with each piece on the immaterial level. Whether protective or contemplative, refueling or revealing, these “wall spells” are cast with careful beauty and the intention to transform.

Pam Grossman is an independent curator and lifelong student of magical practice and history. She is the creator of Phantasmaphile, a blog which specializes in art and culture with an esoteric or fantastical bent, and the Associate Editor of Abraxas International Journal of Esoteric Studies. As co-founder of Observatory, her programming aims to explore mysticism via a scholarly yet accessible approach. Her group art shows, Fata Morgana: The New Female Fantasists, VISION QUEST, and Alchemically Yours have been featured by such outlets as Boing Boing, CREATIVE TIME, Time Out New York, Juxtapoz, Arthur, 20×200, UrbanOutfitters.com, and Neil Gaiman’s Twitter. She lectures on such topics as The Occult in Modern Art 101, and teaches classes on herbalism and ritual. She is a graduate of New York University, where she studied anthropology, art history, and religious studies. A resident of Brooklyn, she lives with her playwright husband, Matt, and their two cat familiars, Albee and Remedios “Remy” Varo.

Show image: Jesse Bransford, “Every Man and Woman is a Star” detail, 2008

Tickets for the symposium are available here; for tickets to individual events and lectures, click here; 10-day Congressional Passes--which provide access to all events!--are available here. All events take place at 1208 Surf Avenue in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York; you can map it here. See you there!!!

April 19, 2012

I'm loving Lindsey Bull's loose, Munchian paintings of people and their supernatural experiences. And her artist's statement is fantastic, too:

Most importantly, my work is an exploration around reality and illusion. In particular the sensation of a fractured reality; the paintings depict figures within, and enveloped by spaces that feel simultaneously familiar and unreal. The idea of the moment is imperative to the process of making the paintings; they have to create tension in a moment in time.

My works are often small, the size offering a dynamic, intimate relationship. Absence and fragmentation is played with, coupled with heightened areas of patterning and layers of paint. Areas of the canvas are left unpainted, others are built up over a period of time. I utilise a lexicon of imagery drawn from various sources, from books on witchcraft and cults to boxing magazines and Kung Fu journals. The figures that I choose and which interest me the most, are usually performing or engaged in some unknown ritual.

The interest in rituals and performances formed, when I was looking at boxing magazines from the 1950's and 1960's visual psychedelic experiments. During a residency in China, this research into performative behaviour deepened and expanded, in connection to rituals within Taoism and Buddhism and formed a new body of work. Consequently, mythological behaviour in connection to rites and rituals is the framework of much of my current work. It is an investigation into a language exploring the mystery of rituals.

I like to think of my paintings as interpreting a kind of ‘gothic psychedelia’. They are the juncture where psychedelic patterning and colours meet darker forces driven by an interest in ritualistic performances and the ‘freak out’ of the acid trip.

‘With the center of the circle as a starting point, orientation can take on precise meaning in the context of its ritual, which was designed to secure spiritual knowledge and material dominion in the world through the agency of spirits, stars and cabalistic arcana.’

Magic Circles have been depicted in popular expressions of magic and witchcraft as well as detailed with full rubrics in traditional manuals of magic such as the Clavicula Solomonis or Liber Juratus. Using narrative, visual and textual material available from European grimoires and manuscripts, William Kiesel will discuss the various forms and functions of this important piece of apparatus employed by magicians in the Western Esoteric Tradition, including their role in providing authority and protection to the operator, as well as examples of their use in divination and treasure finding.

WILLIAM KIESEL is an independent scholar researching occultism and western esotericism in practical and historical contexts. He is particularly interested in esoteric symbol systems and their use as manifested in alchemical, hermetic and occult traditions. In addition to giving presentations on these topics in the United States and abroad, Kiesel has also collaborated in avant garde music circles concerned with the esoteric use of music. It was the later context which led to his contribution in John Zorn’s acclaimed ARCANA series with an essay titled Musings on the Hermetic Lyre. His first book ‘Magic Circles in the Grimoire Tradition‘ is part of the Three Hands Press monograph series. William is the director of Ouroboros Press and editor at CLAVIS: Journal of Occult Arts.

April 12, 2012

Matt Rota somehow manages to make the delicate art of watercolor feel visceral and fresh. It was really difficult to decide which piece from his new show "City of the Dead" at Last Rites Gallery to feature here, as they all have such ominous beauty. The show opens on Saturday, and will be up through May 21st, alongside Billy Norrby's awesome looking "The Fury."

April 10, 2012

As some of you may know, my friend and Observatory founder, Joanna Ebenstein, also runs our incredible sister space, The Morbid Anatomy Library. Unfortunately, due to a fire in the building and subsequent sprinklers going off, much of her amazing collection of books and curios has been damaged. Please read her note below to find out how you can help her restore this unique and important NYC treasure:

As some of you might already have already heard, last Friday night, the building which houses my open-to-the-public Morbid Anatomy Library suffered a small artwork-related fire. The fire was quickly extinguished, but not before The Librarysuffered severe water damage from the building's fire sprinklers. The damage could have been much, much worse, and I am very grateful that we got off as easy as we did, but there is still much to be cleaned up and many books and artifacts to be replaced.

If you are interested in aiding our rebuilding efforts, here are some things you can do:

Make a monetary donation; to do so, simply click here and then click on the black "Donate Here" button on the top right hand side of the blog

Sponsor a book; Click here to see a list of damaged books; books purchased here will automatically ship directly to The Library and populate our sadly empty shelves.

April 09, 2012

Just when you thought Gold Week was over, I bring you this! Do click on the above image by Danielle de Picciotto to see its fine detailing. It's part of her Mobile Homes series, currently on display at Charles de Picciotto's architectural space. I'd love to live in a terraced, unicorn-drawn house myself. Who wouldn't?

April 06, 2012

I want to highlight Rick Beerhorst's work for 2 reasons: his wonderful Americana-meets-Belgian-surrealist style; and this awesome press release his people sent out, which I have no choice but to paste here verbatim:

Hey Phantasmaphile team,

If there's one thing you should know about Rick Beerhorst, it's that - well wait, there are a bunch of holy-what-the-that's-awesome things about Rick and his family. Like how Rick, his wife, and six children all make art together as the Beerhorst Studio. They're an art collective, a family art collective, an urban family art collective in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Or what about how they manage to combine their individual creative pursuits without tearing each other to pieces? Or how they put on group shows, promote their work through a Wonder Wagon (that got top 50 in ArtPrize 2009), raise bees and chickens, and do so in a house inspired by what the world will look like post-fossil fuels?

It lends some meaty meaning to Rick's works, like the ones with with a loving eye towardschildren and the effort behind family harmony. Then there are the pieces that taste a little bit like Magritte, like the one above, that you can get lost in for hours and show Rick's technical skill. They're painted by someone for whom, art is, totally, a way of life.

April 04, 2012

Friend and frequent collaborator, Mitch Horowitz, is featured newest episode of Ronni Thomas' exceptional Midnight Archive web series, and he gives an insightful and entertaining summary of the history of Ouija boards. It's a truncated adaptation of the Ouija talk Mitch gave at Observatory last year, so those that missed it can now watch this elegant, multi-media version. Bravo to Mitch & Ronni!

As part of the Getty initiative Pacific Standard Time, historic Los Angeles artist Ann McCoy returns to Bleicher Gallery La Brea for an exciting solo exhibit of master works. Acclaimed for her enormous and elaborate pencil drawings, Ann’s work is deeply routed in alchemical theory and Jungian analysis. Ann has been celebrated and collected internationally through the most prestigious art institutions, awards and auction houses in the arts including LACMA, MOMA, the Whitney, and the National Gallery of Australia.

“The egg of the philosophers, the ovum philosophorum refers to the vessel in which the creation process takes place. Many creation myths begin with an egg that divides and constructs the world, for example, part of the shell becoming the sky. In this way, the egg gives birth as a universal parent... The egg becomes subject and object for the alchemist who is transforming himself perpetually... Decay and rebirth are implied when the egg decays and the bird is born...

“The egg has been present in my work and dreams ... Some sort of birth or creative act is always implied. Birth is often paired with difficult circumstances, both personally and in mythology. Christ was born in a stable under impoverished circumstances and Occupy Wall Street began with a bunch of kids in tents with no funds. It is these difficult births that interest me. I hope we are seeing a shift in values and consciousness among the youth who are rejecting a culture of greed and war.”